Straight Answers

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Sourav Ganguly</span>, Captain, Indian cricket team On wrapping up his business venture and restaurant plans<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Despite months of speculation, you are finally not starting a restaurant. Have you decided to retain your helmet and abandon the chef’s hat?</span><br /><br />My agent had suggested starting a restaurant pre-World Cup, which then seemed like a good idea.But in the months that followed, I was so caught up with training and gearing up for the World Cup, and later the Cup itself that everything else took a backseat. Later it just fizzled out.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">But there were rumours that your Kolkata outlet is almost ready?</span><br /><br />(Laughs) Really? Ask my friends in Kolkata. You can’t blame those who started the rumour. Everyone is looking for their fifteen minutes of fame.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">What about the company you had started?</span><br /><br />The company was called Sourav Ganguly Percept D’Mark (SGPDM) and was meant to work on the business model of cricket and entertainment tie-up with cricketing giants world over. I’d started the company knowing that I’d have no time for it apart from the initial conceptualisation. I was clear that I’d overview it after a year, which when I did, I realised that my not being around was showing and so opted out.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Post a great innings at the World Cup, what have you been up to?</span><br /><br />I am currently enjoying being at home. Kolkata is experiencing heavy rains. Days are spent training and if grounded at home I watch football, courtesy East Bengal’s great innings.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">You have just added a new brand to your endorsements?</span><br /><br />Yes that’s true. For the past two days I’ve been shooting in Mumbai under ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar’s direction. It’s a Hidden Dragon Crouching Tiger kind of avtar that Kakkar has conjured for this commercial.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">And what about daddy’s darling daughter?</span><br /><br />Sanna? She’s busy shopping with her mom. She’s all grown up now – eighteen months old!<br /><br />hyderabadtimes@indiatimes.com</div> </div>